Nabarros, SJ Berwin win Quintain-Hilton Wembley hotel agreement

Nabarro Nathanson and SJ Berwin scored roles advising on deals concerned with more than 700 hotel rooms next to the new Wembley Stadium.

In two deals totalling £103m, the firms advised on both the purchase of the 306-bedroom Wembley Plaza Hotel, owned by Hilton International, and on the construction of a new 400-bedroom Hilton hotel franchise nearby.

Nabarros represented property developer Quintain Estates and Development, the purchaser on both deals. The new hotel will cost £91.5m, and will be owned by Quintain but run by Hilton as a franchise. It is scheduled for completion by 2010.

The Wembley Plaza cost Quintain £11.5m, which includes £1.5m for refurbishment. As well as the sale itself, Nabarros also advised on a long-term management agreement between the two parties.

Both deals were funded exclusively by Quintain.

Nabarros has advised Quintain for seven years. The team was led by London commercial property partner Graham Lust, who also advised on Quintain's role in develop-ing London's Greenwich Peninsula alongside English Partnerships in 2004.

Lust said: "This was an exciting development. Quintain do things that other people won't do, and as with Greenwich this is a piece of land that other people probably won't have seen the same prospects in. It's easy to take on an inner-city site, but to take on two bits of London no one else was interested in was very brave."

SJ Berwin advised Hilton, also a long-term client, led by London commercial property partner David Ryland.